B
Schoolly D
Schoolly D stands on the roof of
the Sony building in New York City,
the one with the huge scrolls on the
top like a giant halfpipe eighty sto
ries above Madison Avenue.
Schoolly D himself is a landmark on
the skyline of post modern music.
About the time this building was
erected, he and his partner DJ
Code Money were laying the foun
dation for the hip-hop hybrid that
now dominates gangsta rap. Now,
Schoolly D is in top form with a bril-
liant new album called Welcome To
America.
-Morgan Walker
How do you feel about biters
making millions off of a style that
you initiated?
I feel like a father watchin' his
children. Some of them go astray,
and some of them are doin' exactly
what you raised them to do. What I
do, my shit, comes from my heart,
it's realistic, it isn't sensationalized.
Any time you make that choice, to
take that path, to follow your heart,
it's gonna be a long hard struggle. 1
feel right now people are focusing
on gangsta rap and it's my time to
shine. And it should shine on me so
you can understand why the music
is here. A lot of people think it's just
totally negative. Like if every rapper
today stopped cursing, talking
60 THRAME
about guns, drugs and alcohol that
America would change. I don't
think so. 'Cuz they still have Arnold
Schwarzenegger killing motherfuck-
ers, they still have the news, they
still have TV, they still have maga-
zines, they still have corporate
America tellin' them they need hun-
dred dollar sneakers, a Mercedes
and a nice ass leather on your back.
Do you drive a Cadillac, as your
songs would have us believe?
Well, my father has driven a
Caddy since day
one. I fucked him
up when I bought
myself a Lincoln.
How much impro-
visation do you do
in the studio?
A lot. Making:
something good
out of something
bad is what hard-
core is all about.
Hardcore mother-
fuckers deal with
the situation. You
gotta think on your
feet. I put myself in
that situation on
purpose. I do as
much as possible
on the spot.
Do you still think that white kids
don't understand your music?
My world used to be small, but
now, that world has expanded. The
kids in the suburbs are experienc-
ing now what I was experiencing in
Parkside, Philly, in '86. The stuff in
my songs used to be a novelty to
them, now they're livin' it too.
What about people who dis rap?
The people who are up in arms
about the music now see that the
violence has reached their neigh-
borhoods and they want to point a
finger. They say, "Well since those
motherfuckers was talkin' about it,
it must've been them who did this
shit to my child, not me.
It seems like a diversion to keep
our minds off the real crimes.
They keep our minds on the bull-
shit, they keep us high, they keep
us humpin' on each other and
killing each other. They're keepin'
us and laughin' at us. They have no
fear of anything anymore.
FISHBONE
The most over looked progressive band in the
fuckin world, cold-icon, that's all I got to say,"
says Chris Dowd on how Fishbone has been
dissed by the media over the years. So how is it
they continue to attract larger and larger audi-
ences and cause so much mayhem? "Because
we're true-to-life scumbags," says Norwood.
"We're prickly like a cactus, and if you cut it
open you might get high on some mescaline."
Give A Monkey A Brain And He'll Swear He's
The Center Of The Universe delves deep into
a sound that can only be associated with
Fishbone. "This album has songs on it that are
mind expansive," describes Chris. "You listen
to it and it's like a germ, and that is the
theme of all our records." -T Eric Monroe
CORRUPTED
Disco died because
punk rock killed it.
Then punk became
trendy and its origi-
nal spirit began to
IDEALS
fade away. Regrettably, disco again reared its ugly head in the
form of retro fashions, seventies nostalgia and teenage rave dogs
from hell. So once again it is time to cleanse the plastic techno
bacteria with a stern dose of anarchistic abandon. Enter
Corrupted Ideals. Their new album called Anti-Generation, like
1991's Join The Resistance before it, follows in the footsteps of
punk tradition and gobs a fat loogey in the face of conformity.
"It's an expression of our anger because we're all young and
we've found out that when you're working, you're basically work-
ing for nothing," explains guitarist Michael-Anthony Nigro, who
co-founded the band with vocalist Paul Kelly. After a few minor
personnel changes, the band settled on Anthony Guarino on bass
and Shawn Geronimo on drums.
With lyrics born of working-class frustration, Corrupted Ideals
colors their music with a sound that reflects their old English influ-
ences. "Me and Mike's favorite bands were all like The UK Subs,
The Business, Blitz, The Clash and stuff like that," says Paul. "So
it naturally comes out in the music. I think it was a lot more spon
taneous back then. It wasn't as fast, but it had a lot more energy
It was less constricted. Hardcore and punk rock hadn't been t
molded down into a set style yet. It was still just really rowdy, it
was still pretty diversified."
Coming out of Long Beach and Orange County, California,
Corrupted Ideals have seen the bitter fruits that racism and
hatred breed and have released a few songs called "Dead Nazi"
and "No Race" to voice their opinions on that subject. "Our
band is totally dead set against racism," says Anthony "Right
now there is a big Nazi problem down here and it's a sorry thing
because racism is ignorance."
Anthony isn't the only one who despises racist skinheads, says
Paul, "I can't stand those guys. I've never seen a group of people
who go out of their way to show you just how completely stupid
they are. They just have a really egocentric way of thinking. They
make themselves easy targets for criticism."
Far from being just another band stuck in the past that's trying
to cap on the style and sound of great bands gone by, Corrupted
Ideals say what they feel, play what they like and don't give a shit
about what anybody else thinks about it. "It's like a middle finger
to the corporate world," explains Paul. "We probably won't
change anything, but we can at least tell them to fuck-off."
-Brian Brannon